Andrew Lwanga: When justice leaves a bitter taste in the mouth

For the now crippled Andrew Lwanga, a former journalist and cameraman at the now defunct WBS TV, January 12, 2015 will always be a day to remember.
On that fateful day he woke up to cover a procession by a group of unemployed youth who intended to petition the Inspector General of Police, Kale Kayihura to allow them hold rallies.
The then District Police Commander of Old Kampala Police Station, Joram Mwesigye, personally descended on the group hitting and scattering them. When he cornered them, he singled out Lwanga who had filmed him tumbling and making a nuisance of himself as he violently beat up anyone in sight. An unbelievable clip of the incident went viral on the Internet shocking and angering many who viewed the raw brutality therein.
Lwanga’s major crime was filming the DPC who later destroyed his camera and repeatedly kicked him in the back damaging his spine. Lwanga would later be detained until it was clear he was not well, then dumped at Mulago hospital.
So you can understand why some of us were annoyed and frustrated when this rogue police officer was convicted and sentenced to a fine of only Shs 1 million. Then to the man whose life he kicked into misery, he is to pay Shs5 million as ‘compensation!’
Yet, Lwanga at 29 years of age, is now unable to work. He has suffered the ignominy of going back to live under his widowed mother’s roof. He survives off handouts yet he has four children to push through school.
He accumulated a medical bill of more than $65,000 in a bid to recover and get back on his feet. This matter Lwanga brought to the attention of the magistrate before she decided on what compensation the DPC should give Lwanga.
The learned magistrate claimed she decided this way because the errant DPC was remorseful throughout the trial!
We have two very huge problems on our hands from the injustice Lwanga and many others have suffered over the years at the hands of the police.
Uganda Police Force acts as a law unto itself. Yet whenever there is an opportunity to reprimand them, they have been viewed as a necessary evil that has to understandably act viciously because they work in difficult circumstances.
This simply breeds impunity and that is why these incidents, especially against journalists, just don’t seem to go away.
Secondly, Uganda is in a situation where the governing NRM in a bid to perpetuate itself after 30 years in power lives in a state of denial. This happens after years of writing a colorful narrative of success.
This, it is claimed is due to the pursuit of the correct line based on lofty ideological superiority. Yet we now see so many failures, one of them being the unemployment of the youth whose demonstration Lwanga went out to film.
Now those around the all so powerful emperor want to fit in by supporting the claim that he is not as stark naked as he actually is.
So what they do to keep in his good books by being mean and bad to those who they perceive as a threat to the emperor. They will do everything to shut up and cut down the ‘enemies.’
When the DPC was assaulting Lwanga and the demonstrating youth he was trying to help in hiding evidence that there is something wrong in the emperor’s court. He instead made matters worse.
But he is lucky. His crime was committed as he tried to defend the empire against what some people call ‘bad publicity’- that has a negative impact on our tourism industry and scares away foreign investors.
Colonial history had so many of these stories. It was okay to brutalise and murder natives as long as it was done in the name of the king/queen and the empire, your back was covered. It still happens in most conflicts in which Western armies like the US army are involved. You get off lightly as long as it perpetuates the cause of the US government.
I am sure several police officers and security agents must have taken keen interest in Mwesigye’s case. They must now be feeling emboldened by his conviction and sentence.
Why? Because it is apparent that if it is for the sake of the empire, it doesn’t matter how bad it is, you may dive in the deep end, as your back is covered.
History has shown that even the so-called temple of justice is not spared if it is for the sake of the empire.
You have to be scared and watch your back lest it ends up being broken.
Nicholas Sengoba is a commentator on political and social issues. [email protected] Twitter: @nsengoba